What sucks is that this is a superhero plot that can be done well with humor and shenanigans. It’s also the kind of thing that live-action DC suh-hu-huuuucckkkkxxxors at. Think of how Iron Fist is at least watchable despite being a story full of the most tired, stupid, magical honky tropes the genre has to offer.
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The Lego Batman movie is really the only recent example of DC genuinely having fun with superheroes instead of sucking every last bit of joy out of an inherently silly genre. As a general rule, if your title characters spend all their time flying around in technicolor underpants then you probably shouldn’t go out of your way to make everyone take them too seriously.
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Agreed. The last time that I can think of that DC really let itself loose and allowed silliness was Batman Begins.
The Dark Knight trilogy got dark, and it was certainly less campy than the Kilmer and Clooney versions, but don’t forget that it started with a movie where Bruce Wayne bought a hotel so that he could lounge with supermodels in the fountain, where his excuse for needing a utility harness (to a totally unconvinced Morgan Freeman) was “spelunking,” and where he managed to lose a helicopter pursuit by turning off his headlights.
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Also Batman is a versatile enough character to weather the “gritty realism” treatment. He doesn’t have any superpowers and most of his arch-nemeses don’t either, so it’s not as much of a stretch to imagine him living in a universe bound by the same laws of physics as our own.
Superman is a brightly costumed invulnerable flying do-gooder from a planet where everyone looks exactly like humans and also speaks English for some reason. If you want to put that guy on screen you go campy or go home.
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I think it goes back to the 40s and 50s when you had novels like The Razor’s Edge. Herman Hesse also had a lot to do with it. When martial arts became popular, fighting ability replaced enlightenment, but it’s really the same trope.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that in a way, there’s a little Eat, Pray, Love in Iron Fist.
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I want to see the Hong Kong action film about an Asian playboy who goes missing for years in the American midwest and returns to his home city to fight crime using his newly honed skills in the areas of boxing, shooting people and privatization of basic social services.
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That… would actually be pretty awesome. With the kind of clout Chinese cinema is gaining, it might easily become a reality.
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The animated DC movies are top notch streaming stuff. As good or better, storywise, as MarvelMouse. I say this as someone who doesn’t even bother with DC movies any more.
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Yeah, from personal experience with my family, the problem is more often with getting the hospital to let you stay until an episode is over, and your meds are actually sorted.
Hospitals don’t just randomly imprison people for delusions. Even after you’ve been repeatedly picked up by the cops, again personal experience.
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The TLDR:
- UNCONVINCING ACTION
- "TERRIBLE OPTICS" IE, BIGOTED TROPES
- NONSENSICAL CHARACTERIZATION
- TELLING, NOT SHOWING
- BORING, INCONSISTENT VILLAINS
- IT’S ALL JUST PROLOGUE
Frankly I’m hard pressed to disagree with any of the aforementioned points, now that I’ve finally finished the installment.
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Well I’m convinced. Thus far the closest thing I’ve seen to a positive review was “adequate!” and even that was a bit of an outlier.
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Yep, from various randos and paid critics alike, the best thing I’ve heard anyone say about this series is that it’s “alright,” which isn’t much of a compliment.
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I’ll probably get around to watching it eventually though.
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“I know ‘Oriental’ isn’t the right word but I’m gonna go ahead and keep using it anyway.”
It’s starting to make more and more sense why those guys at Marvel figured no one would mind if they cast The Ancient One as a white British woman.
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Ahh, that explains it. It’s created by a dickhead.
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Holy fucksocks; that’s some serious entitled douche-baggery, right there.
The Twit-comments are pretty much the typical bullshit you’d expect, but this one was on point:
The silver lining; I.F. is being hailed as the worst Marvel installment on Netflix, where the others were bonafide hits; so his dickery isn’t as readily “excusable”.
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My daughter and I both refer to him exclusively as M Night Shamalamadingdong.
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Dang, that “give this racist thing a chance” angle set me in the mode to read this in Trump voice, and the speech patterns from his actual quotes aren’t helping…
“We’re working with Netflix and Marvel, two of the most leading entertainment companies in the world right now," Jones said. "They know exactly what they’re doing. We have an incredibly diverse cast; incredibly talented.
people will be very, very, very pleasantly surprised with what we’re doing in the show."
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Alright - here’s my one good thing about Iron Fist:
I love Carrie Anne Moss, and her Jeri Hogarth is competent, sane, professional, well written and well acted.
As for the rest of the show. . . I literally fell asleep during the season finale
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Does Foggy Nelson make any appearances this season? I’m genuinely curious whether that move to her firm is working out for him.
Also curious whether Rosario Dawson finally gets laid in this series. She kind of got cock-blocked in the Luke Cage finale.
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